Mexico City, Mexico — Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent a letter in response to the recent announcement by US president Donald Trump to begin imposing taxes until Mexico stops the flow of immigrants to the US.
Trump has announced that beginning June 10, the US will start imposing a 5 percent tariff on all Mexican imported products into the US. Those tariffs will increase to 10 percent on July 1 and 15 percent in August. He says the tariffs will continue to increase each month until the flow of migrants from Mexico is stopped.
In response to Trump’s announcement, Mexico’s president López Obrador replied in a personal letter that he is not a “coward or timid” and that he does not believe in the Talion Law, so instead, will look for a negotiated solution.
“I propose to deepen the dialogue and seek alternatives to the immigration problem and please, remember that I do not lack courage. That I am not cowardly or timorous, but that I act on principles. I believe politics, among other things, was invented to avoid confrontation and war.
“I do not believe in the Law of Talon, in a tooth-for-a-tooth or in an eye-for-an-eye because if we go those routes, we would all be one-eyed. I believe that statesmen are obliged to seek peaceful solutions to controversies and to put into practice the beautiful ideal of nonviolence,” López Obrador replied as part of his letter to Trump.
“Finally, I propose that you instruct your officials, if you have any problem, to attend representatives of our government headed by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, who will depart tomorrow to Washington to reach an agreement on benefit of the two nations. Nothing by force. Everything by reason and law!” said López Obrador.
Following Trump’s announcement on tariffs, Mexico’s Undersecretary for External Relations, Jesús Seade, said the measures were extreme and could result in “a commercial war between the two countries.”
At a press conference, he said that Mexico would respond “forcefully” to the US measures if applied, and called Trump’s announcement an “icy shower” to the positive relations that are being built between the two countries.
